To answer a question from Wendi: It's a surprise! You're going to have to wait for more chapters to find out! Yes I know, I'm so evil! MWAHA! ...Okay, okay, actually I haven't decided yet... But I will soon, I promise! JSYK, I do believe that stories should have at least a semi-happy ending, so don't worry about Ningenkai being blown up and Botan or Hiei dying or something angsty like that - that's just not my style.

Last Chapter...

Touya eventually convinced Jin to stop flying around, and the five of them set out to go the mall. Botan figured Hiei would be able to find her there, and since she had to wait for him, she might as well be having fun!

Love Me, Hate Me, Just Don't Let Me Fall

Chapter 8: Smart Shizuru

After seeing Botan and Hiei off, Kurama had been busy all morning doing his chores. Thankfully, it was a Saturday, so he didn't have to go to school. He just got back from picking up the groceries for his mother, and now it was time to do his homework. Unlike most teens his age, Kurama didn't prefer to leave things until the very last minute.

The fox had just sat down at his desk and opened his math book to the correct page when he heard a knock on his bedroom window. He glanced up and saw that it was Hiei. He quickly opened it to let him inside.

"Hello, Hiei. What are you doing here?" the fox asked, though he already had a few guesses.

Hiei made himself comfortable on the windowsill, his usual sitting place, and said, "I can't find Botan."

"Nani?" the fox asked as he sat back down at his desk.

The fire demon sighed. How else could he tell the fox such a simple thing? "I need to find that baka onna."

"Tell me what happened with Koenma first, Hiei." The fox was curious. He had been wondering what happened to those two, and this was his chance to find out.

In order to avoid wasting more time, Hiei told him everything, starting with the deal he had made with the godling and ending with the third test: he had to rescue Botan from the demons Koenma had hired, but the hard part was that he couldn't use his Jagan. If he did, an alarm would go off in Reikai, and he would fail the test.

Kurama listened silently, and when Hiei was through with his tale, he asked, "Did Koenma tell you anything about where Botan was?"

"Only that she's in Japan in Ningenkai and that her captors are Jin, Touya, Shishiwakamaru, Suzuka, Chuu, and Rinku."

"How on Earth does he expect you to find her? She could be anywhere!" Kurama exclaimed.

With a grimace, Hiei replied darkly, "He said that if we're soul mates, our bond should be strong enough that I'll know exactly where she is..."

"Ah, of course, that ALWAYS works," Kurama retorted sarcastically. Koenma could be very naive at times.

Before another word could be said, someone burst into Kurama's room. Perfectly calm, Hiei and Kurama turned simultaneously and stared at Keiko, who was standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips and a fierce glare on her face.

The girl yelled, "WHERE THE HECK IS BOTAN! I KNOW YOU KNOW WHERE SHE IS, KURAMA, DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME!

"Did my mother let you in here? I told her to kick crazy people out, but I guess she didn't listen..." Kurama didn't show any evidence that he was surprised at her entrance.

"What in the world did you do to her, Hiei!" Keiko asked after noticing Hiei sitting on the windowsill. She was very worried about her friend. After Botan had chased the two boys away last night, Yusuke and Kuwabara had told the girls what happened. Everyone wanted to know what was going on, so they decided to go to Kurama's in the morning, assuming correctly that he knew more than they did.

Hiei raised an eyebrow, wondering why this ningen thought he had done something to Botan. "I didn't do anything to her."

Keiko angrily stepped towards him and hissed, "I know you did something to her! Nobody in their right mind would 'fall in love' with you! Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot!"

Kurama chuckled, amused at the irony of the situation, and Hiei glared at him. "Shut up, fox."

This only made Kurama laugh harder. "Gomen, Hiei, but this is quite the amusing predicament you've gotten yourself into."

Suddenly, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Shizuru, and Yukina came into the room, one after the other. They had trailed a furious Keiko all the way here, and they had only just caught up to her.

"Kami, Keiko, you run too fast!" Yusuke said.

However, Keiko ignored him and told them, "Kurama and Hiei were just about to explain themselves..."

Hiei almost escaped through the open window, but Kurama shot him a look that made him stay. "Oh no, Hiei, I'm not solving your problems for you! Tell them what happened!"

"Hn, fine. I have to find Botan because Koenma was being an idiot and let her be kidnapped," Hiei said glibly.

The others just gaped at Hiei cluelessly. What the heck was he talking about? Botan had already been found yesterday!

Issuing a low growl, Keiko threw herself at Hiei and grabbed his cloak roughly. The fire demon was startled and would have fallen out of the open window if Keiko hadn't such a firm hold on him. "Tell us what happened! What did you do to Botan to make her fall in love with you! You stupid jerk! You hypnotized her, or seduced her, or... or something! You're blackmailing her, aren't you? TELL ME!" With each word, the angry girl shook the demon by the cloak.

Kurama watched from his desk, trying to not laugh at poor Hiei. The others took a few steps back, not wanting to be caught in Keiko's wrath. Hiei was very calm, considering the situation; all Keiko had to do was let go of him, and he would fall out the window.

The fire demon replied cryptically. "I did nothing to her. If anything, she 'seduced' me."

Everyone but Kurama became confused at this statement. Of all the beings and fangirls in the three worlds, Botan was the first to 'seduce' him? That was ridiculous!

Kurama interrupted the lovely scene before Keiko became too violent and made Hiei do something he would regret later. "Perhaps you should listen to Hiei's side of the story before throwing him out of the window. Please, Hiei, do tell all. We would love to hear a nice story from you!" he said, both helping and teasing Hiei.

Yusuke cautiously made his way towards Keiko, and pulled her away from Hiei to calm her down. He hated it when she got angry because he always ended up getting slapped in the end, even if she wasn't mad at him. Hiei finally stepped away from the open window and closed it, not wanting to tempt another person to throw him outside.

Yusuke eventually succeeded in calming Keiko down, only after she had slapped him, while Kuwabara and Shizuru started asking questions. Yukina stayed silent and simply witnessed everything.

"How did you two fall in love?"

"Where was she when she went missing?"

"What was going on between her and Koenma?"

"What did you mean when you said she was kidnapped?"

Hiei sighed wearily and glanced over at Kurama, who was watching with an amused look on his face. He wasn't going to be any help, so Hiei would just have to lie.

"Just shut up already! I'll tell you everything!" Hiei said to them. Then, he told them his version of what was going on.

"The night Botan went missing, I found her at a park. She was extremely upset and I coaxed her into telling me what happened to her. I discovered that she had told Koenma that she was in love with me. The godling became mad at her and fired her from her job as a ferry girl, so she escaped to Ningenkai.

"All my life, I have had nobody who truly loved me the way she does. While we were walking here, I searched my soul and found that I loved her as well. I told her as much, and she became her usual cheerful self once more. Then we arrived here, and you already know what happened then.

"After Yusuke and Kuwabara left, we told Kurama what had happened and spent the night here. In the morning, we journeyed to Spirit World to try and get Botan's job back. When we arrived, Koenma told us that he was envious of me and would do anything in his power to steal Botan away. We tried to work out a deal with him, only to discover that he had set up a trap. Botan was kidnapped, and my Jagan was stripped of its power. Now, the only clues I have to Botan's whereabouts is that she is in Ningenkai. I have to find her before Koenma does the unthinkable."

That was the stupidest story Hiei had ever told. Searched his soul and found that he loved her? HA! Like that would ever happen! Hiei loved his sister, and only his sister. Never would there be room for another in his heart.

Kurama watched to see if the others believed Hiei's story. Kuwabara and Yusuke seemed convinced, Shizuru looked doubtful, Keiko looked angry, and Yukina looked like... well, Yukina. Though Yukina looked like nothing more than an innocent child, you could never tell what wisdom was hidden behind her naïve exterior. It was difficult to guess how much she knew about what was going on around her. After all, on the day Hiei decided to finally tell her the truth about her brother's identity, he discovered that she had known all along and was simply waiting for him to say something about it 1.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" asked Keiko doubtfully.

"What would I gain from lying?"

"I still can't believe she's in love with YOU!"

Hiei shrugged. "She's one demented onna..."

Surprisingly, that statement was enough to quell her doubts. Before anything more could be said, Keiko was already halfway out the door, on her way to look for Botan. Yusuke and Kuwabara weren't far behind.

Not quite sure whether or not she should leave, Yukina glanced at her brother, but he wouldn't meet her gaze. So, not needed there, she decided to leave, knowing Kurama would be there if Hiei needed help.

Now only Kurama, Hiei, and Shizuru remained. The demons waited for the ningen girl to leave, but she didn't.

Most of those who know her younger brother assume that Shizuru is just like Kuwabara. They don't realize that she has more beauty, intelligence, fighting ability, and spirit awareness than her brother does. Maybe it's because she's a girl or because she doesn't show it off, but either way, nobody seems to realize her full potential. She knew there must be more to Hiei's story, and, for Botan's sake, she wanted to know what it was.

Yusuke and Kuwabara had told the girls what had happened when Hiei and Botan arrived Kurama's house the previous night, so Shizuru already understood the gist of what went on. There were some things missing in Hiei's story. Hiei had told Koenma to 'call it off'. Call what off? Plus, Shizuru had a hard time believing that within only a few hours Hiei had fallen in love with Botan. Everyone knew that Hiei would be the last being to ever admit his romantic love for a girl.

Kurama and Hiei stared at Shizuru, willing her to just leave already. She glared at them and said, "Okay, you can quit lying to me! I'm not as stupid as my baby brother and I know there's something that you're not telling, Hiei! And you know what's going too, don't you, Kurama?"

Glancing at Hiei, Kurama figured there was no use lying anymore and said, "She seems to have called our bluff. You should tell her before she tells everyone else you're lying."

"Why should I?" Hiei asked gruffly.

"Have a little faith and trust her to keep it a secret."

"Hn."

"Oh alright, I'll tell her then!" Kurama said. He knew Hiei wouldn't really mind, so he gave Shizuru a full explanation of the recent events.

Shizuru listened intently, checking to see if this story matched up with the everything else. When she was satisfied that it did, she promised Hiei to stay silent about it.

Shizuru pitied Koenma, Botan and Hiei - all three had been placed in this situation unwillingly. However, there wasn't much she could do right now except help Hiei complete his test, so she asked, "Should we start looking for Botan?"

"It's better than sitting around doing nothing, I suppose. Shall we, Hiei?" Kurama turned to the shorter demon.

With a shrug, he replied, "Hn."

"All right then, let's go."

So the trio set out together, looking for the missing ferry girl or any of her captors.

1 Everyone (including Kuwabara) knows that Hiei's her brother in this story. This is for plot reasons, as will be discovered in later chapters.